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• trope
  trope

  noun
• -trope
  -trope

  a combining form meaning “one turned toward” that specified by the initial element (heliotrope ); also occurring in concrete nouns that correspond to abstract nouns ending in -tropy or -tropism:

trope

¹ American  

[trohp] / troʊp /

noun

tropes plural

1. Rhetoric.

   1. any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony, that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense.

   2. an instance of this.

2. a phrase, sentence, or verse formerly interpolated in a liturgical text to amplify or embellish.

3. 1. a recurring theme or motif, as in literature or art: the heroic trope.

      the trope of motherhood;

      the heroic trope.

   2. a convention or device that establishes a predictable or stereotypical representation of a character, setting, or scenario in a creative work: The author relies on our knowledge of the Haunted House trope to set the scene.

      From her introduction in the movie, the character is nothing but a Damsel in Distress trope.

      The author relies on our knowledge of the Haunted House trope to set the scene.

4. (in the philosophy of Santayana) the principle of organization according to which matter moves to form an object during the various stages of its existence.

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-trope ² American  

1. a combining form meaning “one turned toward” that specified by the initial element (heliotrope ); also occurring in concrete nouns that correspond to abstract nouns ending in -tropy or -tropism:

   allotrope.

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trope ¹ British  

/ trəʊp /

noun

1. rhetoric a word or expression used in a figurative sense

2. an interpolation of words or music into the plainsong settings of the Roman Catholic liturgy

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-trope ² British  

combining form

1. indicating a turning towards, development in the direction of, or affinity to

   heliotrope

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Usage

What is a trope? A trope is a recurring element or a frequently used plot device in a work of literature or art. A trope can be a person, place, thing, or situation. While you might not have known the definition of trope, you likely have plenty of experience with them if you enjoy literature or art. The chosen one is a very common trope used in fantasy and science fiction stories, for example. The chosen one is a character (usually the protagonist) who is the only person in the universe who can save the day or foil the villain’s evil scheme, such as Harry Potter in J. K. Rowling’s series. Another popular trope is a MacGuffin, an object that a plot focuses on. The hero and villain might fight over it or the hero might have to find it in the hero’s quest (another trope!). The MacGuffin serves no other purpose, so details about it don’t matter. In the Indiana Jones movies, Indiana is always chasing a lost treasure that the villains also want. Because the treasure isn’t important other than because the hero and villain both want it, it’s a MacGuffin.

What does -trope mean? The combining form -trope is used like a suffix meaning “one turned outward.” It is also used in concrete nouns that correspond to abstract nouns ending in -tropy or -tropism (e.g., an allotrope is an instance of allotropy). The form -trope ultimately comes from the Greek trópos, “turn," and tropḗ, "a turning." The Greek trópos is also the source of the words trope and tropical. It’s your turn to make the connection between “turning,” figures of speech, and the tropics at our entries for the words. The combining forms -tropic and -tropous can be used as adjective forms of nouns ending with -trope, -tropy, and -tropism. Corresponding forms of -trope combined to the beginning of words are tropo- and trop-, which you learn more about at our Words That Use articles for the forms.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tropes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of trope¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin tropus “figure in rhetoric, manner of singing” from Greek trópos “turn, manner, style, figure of speech,” akin to trépein “to turn, direct, show”

Origin of -trope²

< Greek -tropos; see trope, tropo-

Explanation

A trope is a word used in a nonliteral sense to create a powerful image. If you say, "Chicago's worker bees buzz around the streets," you're using a trope. Workers aren't literally bees, but it suggests how fast they move. Trope refers to different types of figures of speech, such as puns, metaphors, and similes. Each has its own particular structure, but in each case the actual meaning is different from the literal, dictionary sense. Trope is also used in a more general sense to describe a convention that you can easily recognize and understand because you've seen it so often. For example, a TV cop show might use the trope of police vs. thieves to talk about larger issues.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trope tropes

There’s a comic trope beloved by playwrights, novelists and screenwriters about the fighters all suited up for battle, only to discover that their adversary refuses to play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

He’ll have a lot to do when a Scooby Gang — that old, invaluable, incredibly satisfying trope — finally comes together.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

But Mary is different from the superpowered variety of the trope, or the brilliant outcasts in teen movies like “Mean Girls,” “Sixteen Candles,” “The Edge of Seventeen” or “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

From Salon ● May 20, 2026

Male actors playing female roles were a familiar trope across global theatre, from Europe to Japan and China.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026

“Well, right now, it’s the desert island trope that’s sucking me down. Would you help me out of here?”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

If you can’t get enough of that show’s visual irony, metatextual references and winking at entertainment tropes, here’s 10 more episodes of the same feeling, only Earthbound.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

These tropes course through in Alex Haley’s “Roots” TV miniseries and Oscar-nominated melodramas like “Glory” and “Amistad,” as well as acclaimed 21st-century films like “Django Unchained” and “12 Years a Slave.”

From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026

Both were affectionate parodies of tropes from classic musicals dating to an era when the art form was far more culturally influential than it is now.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

One of the recurring tropes in “The Things We Never Say” is of a younger Artie spying his sister Maria eating confectioners’ sugar.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026

They have absorbed a vast inventory of words, idioms, constructions, tropes, and rhetorical tricks, and with them a sensitivity to how they mesh and how they clash.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• figure
• idea
• impression
• notion
• perception
• thought
• vision